Wednesday, November 26, 2008

I had intended to code more for my GP2X, starting with tweaking my version of Netwalk. But I almost certainly never will, now that I recently received a T-Mobile G1 phone. Though less suitable for gaming, its smaller size along with its phone and WiFi mean I'll actually carry it everywhere and run its apps.

I had thought it likely that I'd end up reverting to my old simple phone and only access the Internet with my laptop, as I have always done, but the G1 has enough right that I finally see why so many people are effectively surgically grafted to their smartphones. Judging by the last few days, I've become one of those addicts I formerly mocked. I've even caught myself scrolling the home view (or whatever it's called) back and forth, just to enjoy the smooth parallax action at my fingertips.

Even now I get that "shiny new toy" delight from discovering a new G1 trick. Some "Wow!"-worthy free apps:

Twisty: Interactive fiction on the go. (Not on Android Market at the moment; I installed this by allowing unknown sources and running ApkInstaller.)

ShopSavvy, CompareEverywhere: When did you last own a phone that could scan barcodes for price comparisons?

WikiTude: Try this futuristic app in a photogenic location.

StreetView: Digital-compass-enhanced deja vu on demand.

Amazed: Hone your tilting skills.

Voice Dialer: I have to put on an American accent to get digits working, but I'm impressed it recognizes my atrocious pronunciation of certain names. When will we see more voice control and text-to-speech apps?

Flashlight: Unexpectedly handy. If only I could find a colour that brings out the printer dot codes. Or even better, an app that could decode the patterns for the secret agent appeal.

Full disclosure: I work for Google, though not on Android. Not that it matters as you should approach everything you read with healthy skepticism! Anyway, I'm not completely happy with the G1...

The n things I hate about Java

If it weren't for Java, I'd already be writing Android applications instead of writing about them. I've never gotten along well with the language. I'm old enough to remember the hype surrounding its release. I instinctively distrust excessive marketing (which indirectly caused an unrelated language to be named "JavaScript") and my experiences have only reinforced my initial disdain.

When I first examined Java, I was dismayed that autoboxing was unsupported (now fixed) resulting in the "int versus Integer" mess. I also felt they had missed a golden opportunity to leave the most confusing parts of C syntax behind, instead of superficially pandering to veteran programmers. Also, my pro-multiple-inheritance stance obviously clashed with Java. It seemed to me Java was made public before it was ready. Resources spent on marketing may have been better spent on improving the language before release.

Years later, another encounter cemented my opinion. In a project where I had to use Java, I wanted a thread to perform a nonblocking read on a channel. I was mildly perturbed when I found the Java threading API describing certain functions as deprecated because they were impossible to implement safely. How could they get this wrong? Surely they could have studied any of the many previous threading APIs?

More distressing was my lengthy trial-and-error discovery that my desired nonblocking read was impossible, due to some API design detail which I've gladly forgotten. I do remember documentation claiming the issue was addressed in a newer version, but unfortunately I was constrained to an older version. When I eventually worked around the problem, I felt especially frustrated since I could do exactly what I wanted in a few lines of C.

Shifts in my beliefs have further lessened Java's appeal. I was once an object-oriented fanatic, even submitting an object-oriented entry to a programming contest in a futile attempt to "prove" it was the right way to design software. (To clarify, I'm not saying the attempt was futile because it was object-oriented; the blame lies with me.) In those days I shunned Java because it wasn't object-oriented enough. Since I renounced my object-oriented ways years ago, I now feel Java is too object-oriented!

Additionally, the downloads are heavyweight; a good net connection is a must. The "Hello, Android" example somehow requires a nontrivial amount of code as well as an XML file. In contrast, for C, a kinda sorta C compiler fits in a few hundred lines, and "Hello, World" fits right here: int puts(const char *);int main(){return puts("Hello, World!");}

This comparison is grossly unfair, as C libraries for such a sophisticated phone would also be nontrivial, but all the same, if the Bell Labs researchers of yore were behind the drawing board, the programming interface would be terse and elegant.

One bright spot is Android's register-based Dalvik virtual machine. A prevailing attitude was (and still is?) that Java could replace C/C++ in most situations: how can this be when the standard JVM is a stack-based snail? This is yet another detail Java should have got right from the start; compare with the design of Inferno's Dis virtual machine.

I hope Dalvik bytecode compilers for more agreeable languages will spring forth soon, as that will eliminate my biggest gripe.

Hardware Hankerings

Some deficiencies can be resolved with a little money. At the top of my wishlist is a standard stereo jack so I can use it as a stand-alone music player; I'll probably get an HTC 3-in-1 USB adapter for this purpose. (New G1 buyers will get an adapter free, but that's little consolation for me.) I'll probably also fork over dough for a bigger micro SDHC card, preferably at least 8GB so I can laugh at standard 4.7GB DVDs.

Other features will have to wait for the next generation. For gaming, I'd love to have an Android device with a nice D-pad or two; see the Pandora. While I'm at it, a video camera as well. One that can face the user so you could videophone others like in many a sci-fi flick. And then I may as well ask for a video out too, so it could be a stand-alone video player. Rather than build in all these gadgets, it may be better to have a few standard ports (perhaps USB) to attach oddball devices. I can't wait to see what they'll come up with.

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

I was mildly shocked, but honoured, to find that the venerable (or at least popular!) Wikipedia references my tutorial in its article on Git. Interestingly, the entry states that Git tips and tricks are 'popularly referred to as "magic"'. I named my guide Git Magic as a homage to Arthur C. Clarke's quip featured in the preface, and also because magic happens to be a hobby of mine. If the Wikipedia comment is true, then either my title was fortuitously appropriate, or I have unwittingly coined a phrase.

More pleasant surprises followed. The guide appeared on the first page when I Googled for "git" (though sadly much lower on Yahoo). I found several pages linking to mine, whose recommendations were probably responsible. Thanks to everyone who praised and promoted my site. [I do work for Google, but I have no control over the ranking of my content.]

It almost makes me feel guilty that my enthusiasm for maintaining the guide and for source control in general has waned. But this is inevitable because of Git's power and convenience: I use Git so frequently that it has faded into the background. Fascinating new commands have gradually transformed into boring old reflexes. Documenting them has as much appeal and utility to me as documenting my exploits with, say, the ls command, or sleeping and eating. Also, there are many more Git tutorials these days. But as long as my site ranks well, I'll attempt to keep it updated.

I use Google Analytics to keep an eye on site traffic as I lack access to the logs on the Stanford server hosting Git Magic. Some observations:

On 20080412, traffic to my site, which includes Git Magic, spiked at over 10000 hits. Previously few days saw more than 100 hits. The spike rapidly diminished to 100 to 200 hits per day until 20080805, when a larger spike of 16000 hits occurred. Again, this activity tapered off quickly to a few hundred hits per day until 20081102, which featured a small spike of over 3500 hits.

It seems the first and third spikes were caused by reddit.com, and the second spike was caused by an article at LWN.net.

Since mid-September 2007, roughly when the guide was released, the top three browsers were Firefox (67.43%), Safari (12.48%) and Internet Explorer (6%). The top three operating systems were Windows (36.53%), Linux (35.15%) and Macintosh (26.9%).

During the last spike, the top three browsers were Firefox (69.42%), Safari (12.33%) and Chrome (5.15%), and the top three operating systems were Windows (49.45%), Macintosh (27.23%) and Linux (21.73%).

For me, a common system setup is dual-boot Windows and Linux, and a common problem is an overwritten MBR (Master Boot Record) after reinstalling Windows XP, making it impossible to boot to Linux. Most sites recommend using a Linux install or rescue CD to fix this, but I prefer to install the GRUB bootloader on the Windows partition, and then use GRUB to boot into Linux to repair the boot record:

Download the latest zip file from GRUB for DOS and extract the file grldr to C:\

Run cmd and type:cd \attrib +r +s +h boot.iniedit boot.ini

Append the linec:\grldr="GRUB"to the operating systems section, which is usually last. Save and quit.

Typeattrib -r -s -h boot.ini

Reboot and select GRUB from the boot menu.

From the grub prompt we can repair the system:find /boot/grub/stage1root (hdX, Y)setup (hd0)reboot

Take care with boot.ini as invalidating this file can render the system unbootable. In this case you must boot by another method, e.g. network, USB, CD or floppy.